


Ryuguujo

by taykash



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 14:43:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5209778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taykash/pseuds/taykash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ohno is a fisherman who gets himself into all sorts of folkloric trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ryuguujo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cutselvage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutselvage/gifts).



> For kitto_slutparty 2015.

The sea in the southern part of Japan is, to Ohno, the country’s shining jewel. He lived his life within its 280 mile borders, constantly traveling between the 9 bordering regions and 3000 tiny islands on his small fishing boat. He fished for ayu, sea bream, shellfish, octopus, and sardines depending on the season. Sometimes he accidentally caught sharks, and every time he marveled at his luck and the majesty of nature before throwing it back. His life was simple. He fed off of what he caught, and if he needed anything else he would either trade some of his catch, perform odd jobs, or swap some of the wood carvings and clay sculptures he made on quiet, still nights when the moon shone silver light so bright it allowed him to work on the deck of his ship as though it were full daytime. He had a home he returned to on land that was always open to him, but he couldn’t resist the call of the sea.

The Seto Inland Sea is not often calm; it roils and churns with currents so strong the surface turns into whirlpools like flowers blooming in spring. In the summer come strong typhoons, wind whipping the tops off the trees and tiles off of roofs. One particular storm in late August forced Ohno to temporarily dock on one of the small islands off the coast of Iyo before it even reached where he is. Despite it being high noon, the clouds were are dark and angry, making the entire island dim and gray. There were few houses on this island, most of them small wooden affairs that were well-kept even as they were worn down by the moisture and wind of the region. He stumbled, squinting as the rain begins hitting his face like tiny stones, to a building that seems abandoned; the storm shutters weren’t pulled shut like those on all the other houses, and the front shoji doors had lost most of their paper. It was musty in there, but the roof seemed sturdy and the second pair of shoji doors was mostly intact and helped keep the wind away. There was just enough light to see the irori hearth sitting in the floor, the bottom of it still covered in ashes as though someone had just been using it.

Ohno took a while to start the fire. He had managed to keep his wood dry as he ran across the island just ahead of the rain, but everything is coated with humidity from the storm. By the time he got a spark going his face was sweaty with the exertion. As the fire crackled to life, he sighed with relief and sat back as he watched the small fire gather strength. The shadows were slowly chased away like ghosts as the fire grew, its light flickering ominously against the yellow walls.

Finally, the room warmed up enough that Ohno felt like the chill from the storm has been leeched from his bones. He stood, stretching, before opening the door that separated the room he’s in from the next. This room seemed like it was used for a grander purpose than the room with the hearth; there were faded paintings on the walls, and an imprint in the tatami from where furniture had probably once stood.

“Huh?” A small shuffling noise in one of the dark corners had Ohno cautiously inching his way over. There was a pile of leaves and dirt and rocks there, and as Ohno brushed some of it away, he found a turtle trying to climb its way out.

“You’ve had a hard time of it in here by yourself,” Ohno said kindly to the turtle, picking it up and brushing some of the dirt off of its shell. It was clearly not a lost baby; it was big enough that he has to use both hands to carry it into the warmed room. He placed it a safe distance away from the hearth, where it sat, its body pulled safely inside its strong shell. He watched it out of the corner of his eye as he pulls items out of his pack.

Ohno has always liked turtles. His father once took him to see the hatching of turtle eggs on the coast when he was young. The night had been dark and still, and they watched from the top of the slope that headed down on the beach. He’d fallen asleep against the warmth of his father, only to be nudged awake. When the sleep cleared from his eyes, he could see tiny creatures struggling to emerge from shards of ivory that caught the first kisses of dawn. From his vantage point, it looked impossible for them to make it, and he left half-moons in the soft skin of his thighs as he gripped his legs in anxiety, watching the turtles strive for the sea.

Turtles remind him of himself now. His father had taught him the joys of the sea and now he spends as much time there as possible. He wonders, maybe, if he’ll ever find someone to be on the sea with him – but almost everyone is secondary to the vast expanse of the glittering ocean and the waves rolling beneath his feet.

Ohno unwrapped one of his plain rice balls and breaks it in half. “Here you go,” he said to the turtle, placing one of the halves in front of it. It waited for Ohno to retreat before poking its head out in order to begin eating. Ohno smiled a little as he watched the turtle before eating his own half.

When Ohno woke up the next day, the typhoon had passed, leaving a behind beautiful sunny day with no clouds in the sky. Ohno looked for the turtle but it was gone, and he regretfully packed up his things. He wouldn’t have kept it because turtles are too majestic for him to keep, but he had watched it until he’d fallen asleep; it was a cute turtle, with touches of red on its shell. It had explored the room after it’d eaten the rice, its webbed feet dragging on the tatami. The shuffle of its body on the straw, along with the sound of the rain and wind pounding uselessly against the walls, had lured him into sleep.

When he returned to his ship, it was safe in its harbor, rolling gently with the waves as though it were a pet happy to see its master. When he boarded and went to put his pack in his room, he found a tamatebako cubed box sitting on top of his bedroll. It was made of red and gold tortoiseshell and glittered in the sunlight streaming through his small window. It looked more expensive than anything Ohno had ever owned before in his life, including his boat, and he inched towards it warily.

“A gift in return for your kindness,” a warm voice said from behind him, making him jump.

“Who are you?” Ohno asked, his hand already closing around the knife that he kept on his person for self-defense at all times. He’s never had to use it on a person, but sometimes when he docked on an uninhabited island, there were all sorts of unknown wild animals. A strange person on his boat, however, is not a possibility Ohno had ever considered, and even as he felt the smooth curves of the knife’s handle in his hand, he doubted he’d be able to commit harm against someone else even if necessary.

The man standing there was wearing robes of red silk and gold filigree and he had a thin gold band sitting beneath his bangs with a red jewel set in the middle.

“I am Sho, son of the Dragon God. You helped me yesterday. This is my gift in thanks.” He bows his head, his hair brushing against his face as he moved. “I came in here to get away from the storm, but I got stuck. If it weren’t for you, I would still be trapped.”

Ohno stared at him, his eyebrows furrowed. “I met you?”

“Yes. You gave me some of your food,” Sho clarified, gesturing in the direction of shore. “And shared your fire with me.”

“Are you the turtle?” Ohno had always heard stories of the sea giving back to those who took care of it and its own, whispered secrets of treasure and reward – but also all the stories of the sea taking away from those who didn’t respect it.

Sho smiled a little and Ohno decided that he liked Sho’s smile. It was befitting the son of the Dragon God, comforting and attractive. “I made a poor choice in how I arrived on land yesterday. But thanks to you, I spent a comfortable night.” He gestured towards the box that was still untouched behind Ohno.

“My gift to you is the gift of nothingness. You seemed like someone who enjoys his quiet, so I thought you could use something like this. And…” Sho stepped closer to Ohno, who resisted taking a step away from him. Sho’s eyes reminded Ohno of the depths of the ocean, impenetrable but irresistible.

Ohno had kissed his fair share of women in his life. Sometimes there were barmaids, sometimes women who worked on the islands where he docked, and the very first time was a girl in his neighborhood who turned bright red when he smiled at her and had overlapping front teeth. But none of the women he had kissed kissed him like the son of the Dragon God kissed him then.

Sho’s mouth tasted like the ocean and Ohno wanted to swim there forever. When Sho broke away, Ohno couldn’t come up with anything to say; he stood there in a daze.

“Until we see next time. Enjoy my gift.” Sho smiled again, and when Ohno blinked, he was gone.

The cloak was easily the nicest thing Ohno owned. It was made of a soft, heavy fabric that he didn’t know the name of, but it was embroidered with koi fish of all colors and sizes. When he threw it across his shoulders, everything fell away but the shine of the sun on the sea and the sound of the ocean around him. It was actually nothing but him and the sea for the first time in his life. There was no creaking of his boat, no squawking of seagulls overhead. The splashing of the water and the sound of his own breathing was so loud as to be deafening.

The cloak was the physical representation of too much of a good thing. He kept it in his quarters, folded neatly on top of his most important items, like the mirror he inherited from his mother.

\---

Ohno often stopped at many of the little islands that sat in the sea not just to get supplies but also to see the different sights there. Some islands were blessed with mountains that were covered in verdant greenery, while others were flat and covered with rock. As much as he loved the sea, setting foot on land after weeks on his boat was also a feeling that Ohno cherished.

One day he reached a small island off the coast of Sanuki, one that was crowned with a large mountain. He walked down the beach, his pack on his back, admiring the shoreline as it unfolded in front of him. Soon he reached a small boat that was sitting on the sand. The hull of the boat was still wet and sticky with sand; someone had arrived here not long before Ohno himself did.

The island was covered in dense forestry and Ohno, after walking around most of the shoreline, decided to venture into the forest with his knife strapped to his waist. He often found surprises in forests like this, whether it be different types of food that he hadn’t tried yet or even once a small hut owned by an old couple who simply wanted to get away from the trappings of modern life. They had fed him a delicious soup before sending him back on his way.

The forest was dark and filled with the sounds of life – birdsong, insect chirps, the wind whistling through the trees. He walked, twigs snapping beneath his feet, until he reached a bamboo grove where there was more space for sunlight to shine through the trees’ canopy. He sat there, his back against one of the thicker bamboo trees, eating his salted onigiri. The forest felt magical to him; there was a hidden power surging through the roots and the trees that he could feel, but he couldn’t explain what it was.

He sat there, enjoying the quiet power of the forest, before his eyes caught a flash of white just beyond where the bamboo grove ended to the north. As he watched, the white got closer and materialized into a person, a man with high cheekbones and a strong brow. With him were a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant. The man marched over to Ohno, glaring. “What are you doing here?”

Ohno silently lifted up his mostly-eaten onigiri.

The man continued to stare at him as the dog began sniffing around Ohno and while the monkey poked around his pack. “Are you an oni?”

Ohno laughed a little, lifting his arm so the dog could properly sniff at his side. “I’m a fisherman. I’d be a pretty bad oni, I think.”

“What are you doing on this island if you’re not an oni?” The man’s voice was demanding even as the dog started wagging his tail and pushing his head into Ohno’s hand for ear scratches.

“Is this an oni island?” Ohno responded to the question with a question, surprised. The monkey snatched the final bite of onigiri out of his hand and Ohno whipped his head around to stare at the unapologetic monkey.

The man sighed. “Maybe you should leave.”

“Are you looking for the oni?” Ohno asked, finally standing up. The man was about a head taller than he was, and his clothes were a bright white with gold thread running through the fabric to catch the sun. There was a gold and pink embroidered peach on one sleeve. Ohno felt small and a little tattered next to him; Ohno had patched up these pants so often he wasn’t sure what the original pattern was anymore.

“I’m Jun, short for Juntaro,” the man finally said with a sigh. “I’m here to exterminate the oni from this island. You should probably leave before the battle begins.”

Ohno shrugged. “I can go with you.”

“Go with me?” Jun raised an eyebrow. “Why would you go with me? You’re a fisherman. Have you ever even seen an oni? They’re fierce brutes that eat fishermen like you.”

“I’m pretty good with a knife if I have to be,” Ohno replies.

Jun looked at Ohno, then at his animal companions. The pheasant was off by another tree, the monkey was picking at Ohno’s leg as though attempting to groom him, and the dog had fallen asleep.

“I’ll take all the help I can get,” Jun said with a sigh.

They walked out of the bamboo grove and through the dense forest to the mountainous area in the middle of the island. As they walked, more and more sunlight disappeared until they were walking in almost pitch-black darkness.

“This oni is said to be very stubborn,” Jun murmured as they walked. “Many people have tried to drive him off this island but he has refused.”

“Where is he going to go if you remove him?” Ohno asked.

“I…” Jun paused. “I don’t know. Away from here.”

“If you remove him from here aren’t you going to have to remove him from a different island when the locals complain about him there?” Ohno persisted.

“He shouldn’t be anywhere where people need those resources,” Jun finally said, but his face looked a little troubled.

The oni lived in a cave at the foot of the mountain. It was even darker in there, so Jun lit a torch and led the way. The pheasant sat on Ohno’s shoulder as they traveled through a tunnel made of cold rock.

The end of the cave opened up into a room full of sparkling stalactites and stalagmites. They glittered as though they were made of diamond.

“These rocks are very precious,” Jun explained to Ohno, who was reaching out to touch the nearest one. “They can be used in smithing and in jewelry, and the emperor wants to be able to harvest them as much as possible, but the oni won’t let anyone near.”

“Well…I don’t see him.” Ohno tilted his head. The stone was freezing to the touch, but the oni was nowhere to be found.

“…I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” Jun said, frowning.

In the end, they waited almost an hour before the oni showed up. The oni was skinny and short, about Ohno’s height, with black hair that fell into his eyes.

“You’re the oni?” Ohno asked when he walked in. He looked like a regular boy, albeit one that needed a good meal and a haircut.

“Yup,” the oni replied, lifting up a hand to show claws. “You should leave.”

“We’re here to vanquish you,” Jun said, pulling out a long sword. “You’re the one who should leave.”

The oni sighed, plopping down next to a particularly large rock. “I’m the one who lives here. Why do you humans keep kicking me out of the places I want to live in? I don’t bother you, you don’t bother me. Let’s make that deal.”

Ohno nodded along to the oni’s words but Jun smacked him in the arm. “Make your home elsewhere,” Jun said, jiggling his swords slightly so the blade caught the light glittering off the stones. “Off this island.”

The oni bared his teeth, showing long canines. “Make me.”

“Wait,” Ohno said, standing between the oni and Jun and holding up both hands in a sign of peace. “I think I know a place where the oni can live, if he doesn’t mind. Do you have a name?” Ohno asked the oni.

“Nino,” he replied, clearly taken off-guard.

“You can live there and no one will bother you. You’ll even be fed and have a place for a bath. I think it’ll be good,” Ohno replied with a nod. “Do you want to come with me?”

Nino shrugged.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Jun said, guardedly. “Oni are never trustworthy.”

“Yeah, because you take the time out to know so many of us,” Nino shot at him. Jun shrugged.

“Let’s all go back to my boat and I can show you where you can live,” Ohno said with a nod.

Ohno’s life was out on sea. Everything he had to his name had to do with the ocean, except for one thing.

The other love of his life was named Aiba Masaki, and he lived in a small cabin on an even smaller island. His cabin was cute and cozy, and he always had the fire going so there would be smoke coming from the chimney so Ohno would always know where to find him. Aiba and Ohno had been together close to a decade, even though there were weeks and sometimes even months where Ohno didn’t come home. Ohno knew Aiba got lonely and filled the house with animals to make up for it, so – Nino.

“Hi,” Ohno said, walking into the cabin. Aiba lit up, immediately going to embrace him. Aiba was about a foot and a half taller than Ohno, and he rested his chin in Ohno’s hair after they kissed.

“I got a new cat but she’s out hunting,” Aiba said as Ohno nestled in his arms.

“I brought you friends,” Ohno said with a smile, gesturing behind him to Nino and Jun. “Nino is an oni but he needs a place to stay. Can he stay with you?”

Aiba let go of Ohno and bounded over to Nino. “If you live with me you have to help me weave and maybe even hunt for food,” Aiba warned him.  
Nino shrugged, looking like an errant teenager, but Ohno could see that he was charmed by Aiba. Everyone was.

“Jun says he was born from a peach,” Ohno added from behind. Jun covered his face to hide his pink cheeks.

“We all have our stories,” Aiba said with a grin, slapping Jun on the back. “I’ll make dinner. Nino, help me? But first you have to wash your hands.”

Ohno sat down in the rocking chair that Aiba had made and smiled as he watched Aiba bossed Nino and Jun around. The sea was everything to him – but sometimes, he wondered if he had everything he needed on land.


End file.
